Father of fired FBI Director James Comey defends his son

Former FBI Director James Comey's father, J Brien Comey, 86, recently defended his son, saying he was never 'crazy' about President Donald Trump and he's 'convinced that he's nuts'.

James Comey's father recently defended his son, saying he was never 'crazy' about President Donald Trump and he's 'convinced that he's nuts'.

Since the firing of former FBI Director, Comey, the president has called him a 'grandstander' and a 'showboat', two things that Comey's father and people from his hometown of Allendale, New Jersey, highly disagree with.

'I never was crazy about Trump,' J. Brien Comey, 86, a Republican and a former borough councilman, told NorthJersey.com.

'I'm convinced that he's nuts. I thought he belonged in an institution. He was crazy before he became president. Now he's really crazy.'

Comey's father questioned the president's credibility, adding that he just 'couldn't vote for Trump' in the 2016 presidential election.

James Comey's father, j Brien Comey, 86, recently defended his son, saying he was never 'crazy' about President Donald Trump and he's 'convinced that he's nuts'

Comey's father questioned Trump's credibility, adding that he just 'couldn't vote for Trump' in the 2016 presidential election. The news comes the same day that Comey (right) has agreed to testify to publicly testify in front of the Senate Intelligence Committee after Memorial Day

And the folks of Comey's hometown, Allendale, had nothing but good things to say about him.

'Anyone from Allendale that knows the family and grew up around him knows that he is a good person and has an honest character and has the utmost integrity,' Patty Corn, who was a classmate of Comey's in high school, told NorthJersey.com.

Molly Patrick told the news site that 'there's nothing phony about him'. 'He's real,' she added.

Several residents in Comey's hometown feel that he's being harshly treated.

'There's nobody in Washington that I respect more for his integrity,' former Mayor Vincent Barra told the news site.

'I think it's unfortunate that he got caught in this whirlwind of Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump.'

'Every decision Jim has ever made is with a moral compass,' said Chris Kunisch, whose family has run the Allendale Bar and Grill.

And those still searching for answers surrounding Comey's firing just might get them after the 56-year-old agreed to publicly testify in front of the Senate Intelligence Committee in a hearing that will be scheduled after Memorial Day.

Chairman Sen. Richard Burr (R-NC) said he hopes Comey's testimony 'will clarify for the American people recent events that have been broadly reported in the media' as the committee continues its investigation into Russia's alleged interference in the 2016 elections.

Vice Chairman Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA) said he hoped Comey would 'answer some of the questions that have arisen since Comey was so suddenly dismissed by the President.'

The bombshell announcement on Friday evening came just hours after a summary of a May 10 Oval Office meeting between President Donald Trump and Russia's ambassador and foreign minister was read to a New York Times reporter.

The bombshell announcement came just hours after a summary of a May 10 Oval Office meeting between Trump and Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov (2nd L) and Russia's Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak (4th L) was read to a New York Times reporter

According to the meeting notes that White House aides circulated internally, Trump met with Lavrov (pictured) and Kislyak just one day after Comey was fired and told them the ousted FBI director was 'a real nut job' whose departure would make life easier for him

According to the meeting notes that White House aides circulated internally, Trump met with Sergey Lavrov and Sergey Kislyak just one day after Comey was fired and told them the ousted FBI director was 'a real nut job' whose departure would make life easier for him.

'I just fired the head of the F.B.I. He was crazy, a real nut job,' Trump said, according to the summary. 'I faced great pressure because of Russia. That's taken off.'

Trump also assured the Russian envoys: 'I'm not under investigation.'

The president has offered a variety of explanations for Comey's firing.

The White House initially cited a memo by deputy attorney general Rod Rosenstein cataloging Comey's handling of the Clinton email investigation.

Trump later said Comey wasn't doing a good job, and told NBC News that Russia was on his mind when he decided Comey had to go.

During a Thursday afternoon press conference, Trump said Comey had turned in a 'poor, poor performance' testifying in the Senate, and slammed him for giving false testimony about about emails from Clinton's aide Huma Abedin that ended up on her disgraced then-husband Rep. Anthony Weiner's computer.

'That was a poor, poor performance. So poor in fact that I believe – and you'd have to ask him because I don't like to speak for other people – but I believe that's why the deputy attorney general went out and wrote his very, very strong letter,' Trump said.

Comey (right) is on the outs but former FBI director Robert Mueller (left) has been named as an independent counsel to probe Trump associate's alleged Russia ties

'And then on top of that, after the Wednesday performance by Director Comey, you had a person come and have to readjust the record, which many people have never seen before because they were misstatements made. And I thought that was was something that was terrible.'

The president's ties to Russia have become the subject of great speculation among Democrats who are convinced his presidential campaign colluded with Moscow to meddle in the November election and tilt it in his favor.

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) in a speech this week compared the dizzying scandals to Watergate and the Iran Contra scandal. Soon afterward, Rosenstein announced he was naming a special counsel to probe alleged Russian election interference.

Making matters more awkward for Trump, an ill-timed leak established that he revealed sensitive Israeli intelligence to his Russian guests about a new ISIS plot to detonate laptop-computer bombs aboard commercial aircraft.

Both houses of Congress and the FBI have been conducting a troika of investigations, and the Department of Justice this week appointed former FBI director Robert Mueller as a special counsel empowered to probe any criminal wrongdoing.

Trump insisted during a press conference on Thursday that there was 'no collusion between, certainly myself and my campaign – but I can always speak for myself – and the Russians'

In Thursday's presser, Trump called the broad menu of investigation a collective 'witch hunt'.

'And there is no collusion between, certainly, myself and my campaign – but I can always speak for myself – and the Russians,' he said. 'Zero.'

Congressional committees clamored to get Comey to testify in the wake of the reports, and House Oversight Chairman Jason Chaffetz announced a hearing next week - despite not being able to find Comey's new phone number to get him to attend.

Chaffetz also wrote a letter to the FBI, requesting all 'memoranda, notes, summaries and recordings' of discussions between Comey and Trump be turned over by May 24.

News that Comey will testify broke as Trump was on the way to Saudi Arabia in his first international trip overseas.